Findspace launches new Data Quality Score

August 31, 2010 Leave a Comment

A common complaint we hear from our clients (those people looking for Commercial Real Estate) is the insufficient information provided with listings.  Some Vendors seem to take great delight in providing the minimum amount of data and still expect potential customers to contact them.

Well to make it more obvious to Vendors where they are falling short in providing sufficient data we have introduced a new Data Quality Score.

Vendors can find the score under their Dashboard, just login to your account.

The criteria used to calculate the score is as follows:

As you can see Displaying Price is weighted heavier than other items.  This is to highlight how important our users value being able to see a price displayed.  The Area and Long Description points can only be obtained with Paid Listings.

The Data Quality Score will be used to rank listings at a later date on the basis that Paid Listings will always get ranked highest and then by Data Quality Score so the higher the score the higher up your listing will appear on our site.

Another option added around the Display of Price is on our SpaceFinder search tool.  Users can now elect to focus on only listings that display a price.

Filed under Data Fields, How To Use Tagged with , ,

Findspace adds new User Guides

August 20, 2010 Leave a Comment

Following some feedback from users who told us they did not have the time to fully explore Findspace, we have now produced a number of User Guides and Factsheets.

These cover items such as:

  • Getting Started
  • Branch Administrator Functions
  • Search Tools
  • Tickle Me Factsheet

More will be added as time goes on so if you are unsure of anything then the best place to start might be here – http://blog.findspace.co.nz/user-guides/

Filed under How To Use, Listing Plans Tagged with , ,

10. Glossary of Lease Terms

June 9, 2010 Leave a Comment

Class A Office Space

Newer properties (built since 1980) of 100,000 square feet or larger in prime business districts. These buildings usually have at least five floors and are constructed of steel and concrete. They offer many business amenities and good access.

Class B Office Space
These properties are typically smaller, older and of wooden framed construction. They have usually been renovated and are in good locations. If the buildings are newer then they are typically smaller and not in a prime location.

Class C Office Space
Class C properties are older and have not been renovated. Their condition is typically fair but not considered good.

Escalation Clause
A clause that allows for increases in rent over time usually determined by an outside source such as the consumer price index.
Fixed Lease
A lease that does not include increases, but rather has a flat fixed rate over the term of the lease.
Gross Lease
A lease that includes utilities, repairs, taxes or insurance in the monthly payment.
Lease Term
The length of your lease.
Net Lease
A lease that does not include utilities, repairs, taxes and insurance in the monthly payment.
Step Lease
A lease that includes scheduled increases in rent over a specified period of time.
Percentage Lease
A lease that has a set rent amount with an additional amount that is determined by your business’s sales.
Purchase Option
The right or requirement to purchase the property at the end of the lease.

Rentable Space (aka Leasable Space)
The total square footage rented. This includes all common areas so the number will be most likely be higher than what you requested to rent.

Usable Space
The space that your business physically occupies. This does not include common areas such as corridors, elevators, lobbies and rest rooms.
For a complete Glossary of Real Estate Terms click HERE!
Source: http://money.howstuffworks.com/office-space10.htm

Filed under Frequently Asked Questions, Lease Negotiations Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , ,

How to Use ClientSpace

February 26, 2010 Leave a Comment

ClientSpace is another FREE feature available from FindSpace.

The feature allows us to push your listing back to your own website in real time.  This means that your listings appear on both the FindSpace website and your website all from the one source.

The benefit to users are:

  • No need to maintain the data on multiple website as all maintenance work is done on FindSpace and is immediately reflected on your site.
  • Your listings are displayed on FindSpace and any other site that you control.  There is no limit to the number of websites you can publish your listing to.
  • Saves you the expense of building a Listing capability on your own website.
  • Your listings get double the exposure on the Internet.
  • The service is totally FREE and very simple to setup.
  • No ongoing charges…..

The process to setup the feature could not be easier.

  1. Login to My Account on the FindSpace website
  2. On the Dashboard you will see a link for ClientSpace.
  3. Copy the code displayed into an e-mail and send it to your web developer asking him to add a new page to your site and insert the attached code.  That’s it.

Your web developer can vary the size of the frame to match your page size and it will automatically pick up your sites background colours.  Nothing more to it.

You can view a sample site HERE!

Filed under ClientSpace Data Feeds, How To Use Tagged with ,

How to Use GroupSpace

February 12, 2010 Leave a Comment

GroupSpace is a very useful feature of the FindSpace site.

What it allows you to do is view multiple listings on one Google Map.  See the example HERE.

To generate a GroupSpace map is very simple.  All you have to do is carry out a search, any search.  You are initially presented with a List View but at the top of the listings you will see the option to View List on Map.  Just click this to generate the map.

If there are many listings in one spot you will see a number (showing how many listings there are).  Click once on the map to drill down to the next level and repeat if necessary.

Eventually you will see a small yellow icon signifying a listing.  If you hover over the icon you will see the address. Click once on the icon and it will give you Summary Information,  click on the address to get Detailed Information.

Filed under GroupSpace, How To Use Tagged with ,

How to Use SpaceFinder

February 12, 2010 Leave a Comment

The SpaceFinder search tool is possibly the most comprehensive and most powerful tool available on any website.  We have spent a lot of time deciding what is relevant to our end users and designed it around the factors that most users are interested in.

A typical search string maybe:  Office space in Auckland, within the suburbs of Newmarket, Ponsonby or Auckland Central,  with usable office space of 300 m2 , storage of 50 m2 , and showroom of 10 m2 .  You also require at least four car parks and the building must have air conditioning and possibly a shower.

SpaceFinder is the only search tool that will allow you to search on all these variables, and then once you generate a short list lets you view all the properties on one Google Map, called GroupSpace.

Using SpaceFinder is very easy but we do suggest that you build your search up step by step, adding additional options as you go along.

There are two search levels, Basic and Advanced.  The Advanced one allows you to set values into more fields.

To select multiple Suburbs or Categories just hold down the Ctrl key and tick the items you want.  You could also search by Post Code (under Advanced Search) to get a very specific geographical snapshot.

To set the Space Details you can use the scroll bars.  Moving the first one sets the Maximum Value (and displays the second bar), then move the second bar to set your Minimum Value.  The same applies to Price Details.

Once you have set the values you want click on SEARCH to produce your shortlist.  This can be viewed on our GroupSpace map by clicking on ‘View List on Map‘.

If the shortlist is showing either too few or too many listings then just click on SpaceFinder again and modify your search.  If you are running ‘what if’ scenarios, you can Undo Last Changes at the bottom of the search page.

At any point you can save your search criteria (you must be logged in) and get e-mailed of any new listing that meets your needs.

Filed under How To Use, SpaceFinder Search Tool Tagged with , , , , , , , ,

Why do my listings expire?

October 22, 2009 Leave a Comment

The current format of FindSpace means listings automatically expire (not deleted) every 28 days.

The reason behind this is as a result of searching other websites and finding a property of interest only to find it was no longer available.  This wastes so much time for buyers and frustrates them greatly.

By expiring listings every 28 days we can ensure the listing is as current as possible as the seller must re-list every 28 days.

The process of re-listing is very simple, all you do is login to FindSpace, go to your Account and you will see all your expired listings highlighted in red.  Just click on re-list to make them active again.

The other options you have are:

Withdraw – which you should do when a property is no longer available.  This keeps the listing details available but it is not displayed.

Delete – to totally remove the listing.

All Expired or Withdrawn listings older than 50 days are automatically deleted by the system.

At anytime you can login to your account and Upgrade your listing to one of the higher profile plans.

Filed under Frequently Asked Questions Tagged with , , ,

What are Green Star ratings?

August 28, 2009 Leave a Comment

The Green Star rating is a comprehensive, national, voluntary environmental rating scheme that evaluates the environmental attributes and performance of New Zealand’s buildings using a suit of rating tool kits developed for applicable building types and functions.

Green Star is developed by the New Zealand Green Building Council (NZGBC) in partnership with the building industry.

There are 3 rating levels available for New Zealand buildings:

  • 4 Star – NZ Certified Rating (score 45-59) signifies ‘Best Practice‘
  • 5 Star – NZ Certified Rating (score 60-74) signifies ‘New Zealand Excellence‘
  • 6 Star – NZ Certified Rating (score 75-100) signifies ‘World Leadership‘

More information on the Green Star ratings can be found on the NZGBC website.

FindSpace allows property owners to show their Green Star rating and for people to search for properties with a Green Star rating.  All listings with a Green Star rating will be verified by the NZGBC as part of ours and their Quality Processes.

Filed under Frequently Asked Questions Tagged with ,

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